Finals
by CheekyBrunette
Summary: The stress of finals can seriously get to some people... Jeff included. A cute wittle Niff scene because I have this problem with making Jeff feel like me. Inspired by embrace-the-deception's "Just Friends"


**M'kay. Hopefully this will end up being quite short…**

**My favorite collection of Niff one-shots is most definitely "Just Friends" by embrace-the-deception. It's fantastic… And in that, Jeff doesn't handle stress well, and there's this one line that I have all over on post-it notes (high stress school = happy quotes everywhere) and I've decided to write something.**

**So all credit goes to embrace-the-deception for this line:**

"**He certainly didn't deal with stress well (as show all through exam times when Nick would have to deal with a PMSing Jeff who would suddenly burst into tears for no apparent reason)."**

Nick was starting to get a little worried about Jeff. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal -Nick was always worried about Jeff- but finals were just around the corner and that tiny bit of anxiousness was most definitely not welcome. In fact, it was sort of eating at him in a way that he seriously didn't need, what with the stress of all the tests he had to take coming up in a week.

However, Nick could handle it. He was good under pressure and didn't have too big of a problem with anxiety. Jeff however… Yeah. Jeff was another story.

It's not that he was _sensitive_, per say, because Nick knew better than anyone all the crap he put up with at his old school, but he was definitely… well, we'll go with emotional. For example, Jeff wouldn't cry at the SPCA commercials, but he would be the first to break out into tears in an argument. And he did. All the time. But Nick didn't really consider it a problem until moments like these.

They were sitting in a Warbler meeting, and David had _just_ started about solos, and Nick could see Jeff holding back tears. In fact, it was only a matter of time before the other boy started downright sobbing. Anxiousness filled Nick's heart and he threw a helpless look to Thad who just nodded. Nick took it as permission to escort his boyfriend out of the room.

"Come on, Jeff," he said quietly, wrapping an arm around his roommate and leading him out the door, watching David's face as he nearly called them out before noticing how upset Jeff was. The council member gave him a good luck smile, never pausing in his speech.

It had been like this for the past two weeks, and most of the Warblers they were close to knew about it. Jeff felt like he was having trouble balancing, despite the impeccable work he was turning in for all of his classes and the immense studying he was struggling to manage. All the stress and worry was making him randomly depressed all over the place, and it was sort of getting to be disconcerting.

He somehow got Jeff, his moves automatic, to their dorm and sat on his bed. "Okay, Six. What's got you?" he asked almost timidly, knowing the second he did, Jeff would be an absolute puddle of tears at his feet.

Jeff bit back a sob, proving Nick right and doubled over himself. "I'm never going to get one!" he wept, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Get one what, Love?" he questioned, about to put a comforting hand on Jeff's knee. He knew Jeff well enough to know that this would all blow over in a minute, but they probably wouldn't end up returning to Warbler practice, the blonde too embarrassed. However, Jeff moved away before he could touch him, backing into the headboard and looking almost… almost… scared?

"No, no. I'm sorry, I shouldn't…" Jeff was babbling like he usually did when he was upset, but something seemed different this time. Like he didn't know… like he didn't know _something_… "Oh gosh, I'm a mess. I'm so sorry, Nicky. I shouldn't… Crap. I'm sorry." Nick didn't like how things were unfolding.

"Jeff… It's okay. I mean, you don't have to be sorry or anything. You've been getting upset a lot lately, but, I mean… I don't know…" Nick struggled to find the right words, but everything he was saying seemed to make Jeff more distraught than before.

"Crap, I'm getting worse. Nicky, just go to Warbler practice without me. Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have do deal with this. You shouldn't have to deal with me. Just… just go to practice. It's fine, it's fine," Jeff hiccupped, and Nick was beyond confused. Why was Jeff so sorry? Why would he want him to leave? Even if it was sometimes annoying, this was how Nick wanted it to be. How it was supposed to be. Jeff got upset and Nick stayed with him. That's how it worked.

"Jeff, I'm not going back…" he said, voice coated with an incredulous tone. He didn't get it. Why didn't Jeff want him?

"But I don't _deserve_ you, Nick. And I don't deserve… _this_, so just… just leave because I… I…" Jeff faltered off and pulled himself further back into his headboard, and Nick. Well, Nick wasn't exactly sure what to do.

"You don't… I…" he stammered, unable to form a complete, coherent sentence, "What?" he finally settled on, inching closer to Jeff and sending him impossibly further into the wall.

"You heard me," he spat bitterly, an anger in his eyes that Nick had never seen before. But he knew who that anger was directed at… This isn't how things were supposed to go. Jeff was supposed to be upset, he was supposed to be comforting, and this was supposed to be don fast. Jeff wasn't… he wasn't supposed to be mad at himself. "You're fricking perfect, Nicky, and I'm… I'm… I'm…"

A sweeping realization fell over Nick, and his eyes hardened. He snatched up his boyfriend's hands, titling his chin up to force him to meet his eyes. "Jeff, you… You're not any of those things," he said, and they both knew what "things" he was talking about. Like he had said…

Jeff had dealt with a lot of crap.

And it had sort of messed him up.

"What… What are you not going to get? One of what?" he asked. Jeff trembled for a minute before Nick finally managed to touch him. "Come on, Jeff. You have to answer me. What aren't you getting?" Jeff rubbed his cheeks free of tears with already damp hands.

"A solo." Nick frowned.

"Why do you think that?" he asked, and Jeff started shaking again. He was so… _sad._ Nick had seen a sad Jeff before; a lot of times, actually, but now… He was a wreck. Nick had never seen Jeff cry this hard, but he looked… He looked almost resigned. Like this was a place he went to mentally before… a lot… Nick's stomach tightened. What had he actually missed before Jeff came to Dalton?

"Because I'm _terrible!_" Jeff gagged, a complete wreck. "I can't sing… and… And even if I could, I'm not… I'm not _smart_ enough for it, Nick. I wouldn't be able to do what the needed me to because I'm so fricking _dumb_, and… I don't know, I never know… I can't even do these _finals_, Nicky. Let alone sing what I'm supposed to, and…" Jeff sniffed, his whole face clogged with tears. "I'm not… I'm not… _attractive_ enough. No one would want to see me singing on stage, or… or _anything_, and I don't… I can't get a solo, Nick. And if I can't even do that, I don't… I don't deserve someone who can and more."

"Jeff…" Nick whispered, trying to force the heartbrokenness he felt all out in one word so he could get through everything he needed to say… Because Nick had quite a bit to say.

"No, Three," Jeff cut him off before he could start speaking. "Just… Don't say anything. I don't wanna…" The blonde cut off, a scared expression taking over his face, and Nick hated it. _Hear you confirm it_, he filled in, and Nick shook his head.

"No, _you_, Jeff. You can't…" he took a breath, quelling the anger that had momentarily filled his heart. He wasn't mad at Jeff. He was mad at the situation. "Jeff, you don't… you don't get to say those things about yourself. You're… you're _mine_, and I… I can't handle it. You don't get to say you're imperfect when you… when you…"

"Are and you can't argue?" Jeff guessed, and Nick hit him upside the head, blond hair feathering out with the touch.

"When you're the best thing to ever happen to me," he said pointedly, and Jeff looked shocked and turned away. There was an awkward pause before Nick started off again, but much quieter than before. "Look, Jeff… I love you, okay? And you're… you're being _crazy_." He laced his fingers through the other boy's hands, looking down at his body. "I mean… Look at you. You're so painfully gorgeous, and I'm just… I'm just me, and…" he bit off before looking deep into Jeff's eyes. "I know you don't think it, and I know a thousand people have told you otherwise, but… Jeff… you mean everything to me, and it's not just because you _are_ smart, or because you _are_ hot, or because you _are_ amazing at music of all kinds, it's because of your heart. You're so humble, Jeff, and it scares me to see how much so, but… but you have your priorities all in the right places and… and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else…" He finished awkwardly. "_With_ any_body_ else."

"But I'm…" Jeff cleared his throat, tears having subsided for the most part somewhere in the middle of Nick's little speech.

"Perfect," Nick answered for him, making a move to hug him and thankfully being allowed. He pressed a kiss into Jeff's hair. "I love you, okay? I'm not going anywhere." Jeff tilted his head up to snag a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere, either."

**I have a habit of ending these things with someone saying they aren't going anywhere or leaving or whatever… It's a thing…**

**I did this after CDTs, so sorry if it's not very good! Just a short little thing, ya know?**


End file.
